Slashdot Mirror
What Pinball Looks Like When the Stakes Are High
siobHan writes "The PAPA World Pinball Championships recently concluded in Scott, PA (near Pittsburgh), as covered on Slashdot already. The organizers recorded full 1080p/60 HD video of the playfield during the final games, and have uploaded the entirety of the crucial deciding game, with commentary (direct link to just the video). The winner of this game received $10,000 for his skillful play."
Ever since I was a young boy,
I've played the silver ball.
From Soho down to Brighton
I must have played them all.
but I ain't seen nothing like him
In any amusement hall.
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball!
He stands like a statue,
Becomes part of the machine.
Feeling all the bumpers
Always playing clean.
plays by intuition,
The digit counters fall
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball!
He's a pinball wizard
There has to be a twist.
A pin ball wizard,
S'got such a supple wrist.
How do you think he does it?
I don't know!
What makes him so good?
ain't got no distractions
Can't hear no buzzers and bells,
Don't see no lights a flashin'
Plays by sense of smell.
Always gets the replay,
Never seen him fall,
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball.
I thought I was
The Bally table king.
But I just handed
My pinball crown to him.
Even on my favorite table
He can beat my best.
His disciples lead him in
And he just does the rest.
He's got crazy flipper fingers
Never seen him fall.
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball!
I could make that kind of money from playing pinball :)
I knew I had my 20" monitor oriented vertically all this time for an eventual reason - to play this video optimally.
Better known as 318230.
Amazing how much it reminds me of playing Pinball Fantasies on the Amiga. Even the audio... I'm guessing the recognition is supposed to go in the other direction, but I didn't actually see many real pinball machines as a child.
What Pinball Looks like When...High:
BEEB BEEB BEEB...LIKE WH0A...NOM NOM NOM NOM...O NOES...
o....when stakes are high...
"I mean if Pacman affected our generation as kids, we would all run around in darkened rooms eating pills and listening to repetitive music."
------ Take away the right to say fuck and you take away the right to say fuck the government.
Ah, Space Cadet Pinball, how I miss you... Okay. Good. The nostalgia passed pretty quickly. I'm sorry you had to witness my moment of weakness there.
Memories of misspent youth and quarters.
I could pop a quarter in an Eight-Ball Deluxe machine and play all day. I was able to hit most of the specials and rack up credits for free play. Sometimes I even left a few on the machine when I had to go.
Granted the time at the tournament would make it look good but if you average all the time spent getting there. The payoff is recognition amongst your peers more than monetary rewards.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
I noticed something very strange: It's all men. Where are the women players? In the audience? At least, why didn't the audience bring their wives and girlfriends?
To get to that level you need like own games and play alot and then you have to pay to get in to the Championships and the good players enter like 4-5 times or more on the same game hoping to get a good qualify score and you need to do on more then one game.
There is only one pinball manufacturer in the world right now, and they didn't get there by being the best engineers, artists or designers. They got there by being/having the scummiest lawyers. Now we're stuck with horrible designs, bad gameplay, and most of the best IP buried in an unmarked grave in wrigley field.
Women are like electronics: you don't know how damaged they are until you try to turn them on.
Pinball really is a lost bit of nostalgia. I bet you a LOT of money could be made if classic machines such as Dr. Who, Attack from Mars, Revenge From Mars, Terminator, were adapted to the PC. I mean, Maxis' Full Tilt Pinball is the last decent pinball sim I can think of. And that was circa Windows 3.1
There were two:
The arcade at Dixie Landings in Walt Disney World. They had an entire wall that was nothing but pinball machines...at least 20-30 in a row. The second was at a place in Gaithersburg, MD that shut down about 12 years or so ago, called Sportland America. They too had an entire wall of just pinball machines, although they had closer to 40 or 50 of them.
Such good times. I miss pinball machines :(
Living With a Nerd
If it's pinball and it's not Medieval Madness, it almost certainly sucks.
TROLLLLLLLSSSS!
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pGL7iLcL8FE/S2YyjWuJWYI/AAAAAAAAAcc/zUkHlkAlmqs/s400/Tommy+(38).BMP
It doesn't get any higher that that.
If you are in the twin cities area, go to the MN State fair. There's a room with nothing but pins. This is a welcome change from the increasing numbers of shooting gallery & ticket redemption machines invading the fair.
What it looks like is unfortunately amazingly boring. Most of the game is the player holding the flipper up so the ball stops, releasing, then making a good shot.
The shots take skill, and there's always the trick of using the right amount of tilt etc, but I find it near unwatchable.
It's turtles all the way down.
The Pinball "Hall Of Fame" in Las Vegas has hundreds of pinball machines. Most of them work well enough.
Pinball is great, even for the young generation.
In the basement we have 24, Theater of Magic, and Spiderman :)
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits" - Albert Einstein
I went to Vegas, and spent a week there. These guys know from pinball. http://pinballmuseum.org
Golf
Bowling
NASCAR
Pinball
Tennis
Bicycling
Sailing
Swimming
Gymnastic Ribbon (WTF is that)
Water Ballet
How in the world is whacking the machine allowed? I thought machines showed "TILT" and disabled the controls if you did that?
looks pretty much the same as when the stakes are low.
---
Is this the MPAA? Is this the RIAA? Is this the DMCA? I thought it was the USA!
I've always wanted a pinball table, but I never got one for fear of bad parts and expensive repairs. I'm fine with a $2,000 investment on a good table, but have no idea what to look for and what to avoid. Anyone one have suggestions?
I want to be retired when I grow up.
"The winner of the $10,000 prize purse at the World Pinball Championships has requested his entire winnings in quarters."
640YB ought to be enough for anybody.
this has to be the most watched game of pinball ever. pretty impressive accomplishment, kudos to all involved. long live pinball. long livALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD
Most of my college years were spent in front of the Creature From The Black Lagoon table (The table in the article + Licensing Deal). I could drop a 20 pence coin in there, play 5 or 6 games and walk away leaving multiple credits behind.
I don't know that I'd handle the consistency of play required to get into this sort of competition, but my averages were way above what these guys ended on, with a personal best of 911M and change.
kartune85 : Incapable of reason, observation or learning. A kind of dim, drab, flightless parrot.
I didn't get any of the MetaGame from the article, so the best I can figure is that suppose you were indeed a deadly hotshot at Lagoon, the champion might know 5 machimes, and stick the results on Knight Rider or something.
Ramdom Guess here, but certain people can be am expert at any one machine, so if the Champ plays the MetaGame right, his 3rd best machine might leave you ruined.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Yeah, no argument there.
Lagoon was the only one I really aced, though I could hold my own on Twilight Zone (even with its accursed ceramic ball) and the 90's Star Wars table (The one with the mini-game video games on the LED's up top).
But yeah, like I said, no consistency of play. Put me in front of any table other than those 3 and I was laughable at best.
kartune85 : Incapable of reason, observation or learning. A kind of dim, drab, flightless parrot.
It looks just like regular pinball...imagine that!
That, that really grinds my gears!
Hope he has got good insurance. Shame if somethin' wuz to happen to 'is fingers.
I've played the silver ball
From Soho down to Brighton
I must have played them all
But I ain't seen nothing like him
In any amusement hall
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
There's actually a pinball museum in Las Vegas. It's worth a trip if you're ever in Sin City.
http://www.pinballmuseum.org/
Because so much passive content (read: TV, movies, games -- well, that's interactive) is predominantly horizontal.
Let me tell you, that video was absolutely riveting. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I really mean this.
Honestly, watching golf is more exciting than this shit.
Cricket
Darts
Crown Green Bowling
Curling
Snooker (Or Pool or Billiards - all painful)
Oval Car Racing (not just NASCAR, but IndyCar also guilty)
Marathon Running
Weightlifting
Dressage
Baseball (sorry, US folks, but it's interminable if watched live)
Archery
Fishing
Because wide-screen monitors permit you to to view 2 vertical windows simultaneously?
Because with vertical content, it's preferable to scroll vertically rather than horizontally?
Xiau2 is that you?